Distinguished Speaker Series: Drs. Kathryn Beheshti and Rachel Smith
May 15 @ 6:00 pm - 8:30 pm
The Ocean Institute’s Distinguished Speaker Series, presented by the Nicholas Endowment, brings interesting innovations, real-world research, exotic experiences, and delightful discoveries to the surface through powerful presentations from an ocean of experts. Speakers present on a variety of topics ranging from ocean researchers, ocean authors, ocean artists, and ocean athletes.
Light snacks & refreshments available for purchase at event.
Distinguished Speakers: Drs. Kathryn Beheshti and Rachel Smith
Join the Ocean Institute in welcoming Drs. Kathryn Beheshti and Rachel Smith as they share the lessons learned from 25 years of monitoring the world’s largest artificial reef, Wheeler Reef North.
Wednesday, May 15
5:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Doors open at 5:30 pm, and talk begins at 6:00 pm
$10 – General
FREE – Members
FREE – Students (with Valid ID)
About Drs. Kat Beheshti and Rachel Smith:
Drs. Kat Beheshti and Rachel Smith are Assistant Researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara’s Marine Science Institute. Kat received her PhD from the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at University of California, Santa Cruz in 2021 and Rachel received her PhD from the Odum School of Ecology at the University of Georgia in 2019. As Co-Principal Investigators of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) Mitigation Monitoring Program, Kat and Rachel manage the long-term monitoring of Wheeler North Reef, a 373-acre artificial reef located off the coast of San Clemente, and the San Dieguito Wetlands, a 150-acre wetland restoration located in Del Mar, as well as the reference reefs and wetlands associated with each project. Coastal marine ecologists by training, Kat and Rachel bring their expertise working in salt marsh, mangrove, oyster reef, seagrass meadow, and kelp forest systems to the SONGS program
About Wheeler Reef North:
To compensate for the coastal marine resources lost due to the operation of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station Units 2 and 3, the California Coastal Commission (CCC) required Southern California Edison (SCE) to mitigate for these losses. Part of the mitigation required construction and independent monitoring of an artificial reef (later named Wheeler North Reef) large enough to support 150 acres of medium-to-high density adult giant kelp and 28 tons of fish standing stock.
To inform the design of the mitigation reef, a 25-acre experimental reef was built in 1999. The experimental reef addressed a series of unknowns regarding what reef configuration (substrate type, substrate cover) would best support a kelp forest community and whether kelp could colonize the reef naturally or if out-planting kelp would be necessary.
In 2008, the 150-acre mitigation reef was constructed and mitigation monitoring began in 2009. The mitigation reef allowed us to determine whether sea fans, known to monopolize space on some artificial reefs, excludes kelp on Wheeler North Reef and the years it would take for the community on Wheeler North Reef to resemble that of natural reefs. Lastly, data from the mitigation reef showed that the Wheeler North Reef was too small to sustain a fish standing stock of 28 tons. As a result, the CCC required SCE to add up to 210 acres of new reef– the remediation reef was constructed from 2019-2020 and added 198 acres to the reef.
